Agree about Sheen, he is excellent in everything he does.
Mulligan however is almost hilariously miscast; one of the worst casting decisions of recent times.
I had really hoped Joe Wright might've taken a stab at it with Kiera Knightley and told his so about 5 or 6 years ago when the script started doing the rounds; He felt he couldn't make a better film than Schlesinger had, which I think says it all.

I agree that the 2015 cinematic adaptation is weak compared to the 1967 film version. I will say, however, Michael Sheen's Boldwood was a solid performance in an otherwise lackluster attempt at Hardy's story.

I like both films and enjoy Christie's and Mulligan's performances equally. The male actors are much better in the Julie Christie version.

I'm not talking about preferences. I'm stating that adaptations and remakes are not one and the same.

You people are really obsessed with semantics.
Doesn't change a thing.
Whether or not you prefer the 2015 remake of the earlier adaptations is matter of personal preference.
The. End.

Have you read the novel? The swordplay scene is in the book, and it is an important part of the courtship between Bathsheba and Troy, hence why it has been included in every adaptation - the 1967 film, the 1998 Masterpiece Theatre Miniseries, and this latest movie version. It is an adaptation of the book, and was adapted by David Nicholls.
People need to learn the difference between remakes and adaptations.

Of course the 2015 is a remake of the several films made as adaptations of the book.
If the 2015 version were not a remake, why of all the various interactions between Bathsheba & Frank is the scene with the sword redone?
Not worth arguing.
However to respond to OP, the men in the 2015 version are cardboard cutouts compared to Stamp/Bates & Finch.
No comparison really.

NOT A REMAKE! It is an adaptation of the book!